Battle over Springetts' Avalong barn continues

The Avalong barn on Whiteford Road was torn down more than a month ago, despite protests from Springettsbury Township residents and descendents of the Long family who built the barn.

One of the residents who loudly protested the barn's demolition was Jane Heller. At the supervisors' Feb. 28 meeting, she exhorted them to rescind the demolition permit. The township's solicitor told her that the board couldn't do that without risking legal ramifications.

Thursday night, Heller was back in front of the board, voicing opinions on the same issue.

"There's never been a will on the board" to preserve historic landmarks, she said. She also told the supervisors, "I pay your salary," before vice chairman Don Bishop asked her, "You pay my salary? Really? How much do I make?"

"I don't know, but it comes from my taxes and whatever," Heller said.

As she returned to her seat, Don Eckert, former chairman of the board, chastised her for her tone of voice and attitude in dealing with the supervisors.

"Don't tell me what to do," Heller told Eckert.

Next up during public comment was Mark Robertson, who serves on the township's planning commission.

"It's not the job of the planning commission to tell property owners what to do with their land," he said.

He added that Susquehanna Bank, which had purchased the Avalong Barn property, went through the proper channels to obtain permission for demolition.

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Supervisor Julie Landis interrupted Robertson to say that the planning commission does, in fact, tell people what to do with their land, and cited the township's recently revised ordinances governing the size of RVs that can be parked on residential properties.

Robertson explained that the planning commission had revised the ordinance after reviewing ordinances in smaller, similar-sized, and larger municipalities, and after residents' complaints.

"We modified the ordinance to help people, but the ordinance was already there," he added.